Adopting SMART Goals Will Empower Legal Operations

According to Mitratech’s Lauren Burnside, adopting SMART goals  — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound — offers legal operations teams a structured approach to optimize resources and achieve transformative outcomes.  

SMART goals empower legal operations to translate broad objectives into actionable steps. They are defined, measurable targets that align with organizational objectives. In addition, they help streamline processes, reduce costs, and strengthen stakeholder relationships, thus enhancing the legal team’s strategic value. 

For example, enhancing stakeholder satisfaction could involve achieving an 85% satisfaction score through refined feedback processes. Optimizing legal spend might focus on reducing external counsel costs by 15% through better budgeting and evaluations. Such targets provide measurable benchmarks highlighting legal teams’ impact and aligning efforts with corporate priorities.

Technology adoption and change management are critical for enhancing productivity and modernizing workflows. Automating document management processes or self-service solutions can boost productivity, saving time and resources for higher-value tasks. Change champions, training, and ongoing support help team members learn how to use new technologies and realize the benefits they provide. 

By setting integration goals, such as connecting 75% of applications to create a unified data system, legal teams can eliminate redundancies and enable data-driven insights. Standardizing vendor onboarding, improving contract compliance through automated audits, and leveraging analytics for better resource allocation are additional examples of SMART goals driving strategic efficiency.

These targeted objectives position legal operations as a proactive, value-driven function. By adopting SMART goals, teams can effectively align with organizational strategies, continuously evolve to meet challenges, and deliver measurable, impactful outcomes. Implementing these frameworks now lays the foundation for a stronger, more strategic legal operations team.